Minuteman II Launch from Vandenberg AFB  03-15-2002

Read more about the Mission below

  
 Launch occurred at 6:15pm which was about 8 minutes after sunset.
 


 
 


 
 


A wide angle photo from Press Site about 5 miles away.
 


  A view of the launch pad before launch. The building rolls back about an hour before launch.
 
 Below are links to previous Minuteman launches

  Minuteman II launch on 09-19-2002

  Minuteman II launch Intercept test on 07-14-2001

  Minuteman II launch on 07-07-2002

  Minuteman II launch on 10-02-1999

 Minuteman II launch on 06-23-1997

  •  The test involved the launch of an Orbital Suborbital Program (OSP) long-range missile from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.  The OSP, a modified Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile, carried a mock warhead and three balloon decoys.  At about 6:36 p.m. PST, and about 4,800 miles away, a Payload Launch Vehicle missile carrying a prototype exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) interceptor launched from the Ronald Reagan Missile Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.   At about 6:45 p.m. PST, the intercept took place at an altitude of approximately 140 miles above the central Pacific Ocean during the midcourse phase
  • of the target warhead’s flight.  This was an integrated system test, with all representative system elements participating:  space-based missile warning sensor; ground-based early warning radar; the prototype X-Band radar at Kwajalein Atoll and the battle management, command, control and communications system located at Kwajalein Atoll and the Joint National Integration Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo.  Since the system is
  • in its research and development phase, these elements serve as either prototypes or surrogates for system elements which are in the developmental stage and have not yet been produced for actual operational use.
  •  This was the sixth intercept test of the GMD research and development program.  The first test, Oct. 3, 1999, resulted in the successful intercept of a ballistic missile target.  The second test took place on Jan. 19, 2000, and did not achieve an intercept due to a clogged cooling pipe on the EKV, but did successfully test the integrated system of elements.  The third test, July 7, 2000, did not result in an intercept due an unsuccessful separation of the EKV from the booster rocket.  The fourth test, on July 14, 2001, achieved a successful intercept of a ballistic missile target.  The fifth test, on Dec. 3, 2001, also resulted in a successful intercept.

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         Mission Background

    The Minuteman weapon system was conceived in the late 1950s and deployed in the early 1960s. Minuteman was a
    revolutionary concept and an extraordinary technical achievement. Both the missile and basing components incorporated
    significant advances beyond the relatively slow-reacting, liquid-fueled, remotely-controlled intercontinental ballistic missiles of
    the previous generation. From the beginning, Minuteman missiles have provided a quick-reacting, inertially guided, highly
    survivable component to America’s nuclear Triad. Minuteman’s maintenance concept capitalizes on high reliability and a
    "remove and replace" approach to achieve a near one-hundred percent alert rate.
    Through state-of-the-art improvements, the Minuteman system has evolved to meet new challenges and assume new missions.
    Modernization programs have resulted in new versions of the missile, expanded targeting options, significantly improved
    accuracy, and survivability. Today’s Minuteman weapon system is the product of almost 35 years of continuous enhancement.
    The current Minuteman force consists of 515 Minuteman III’s located at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., Malmstrom AFB, Mont.,
    Minot AFB, N.D., and Grand Forks AFB, N.D. The last round of base realignment and closing decisions has forced a
    realignment of Minuteman missiles from Grand Forks, AFB toMalmstrom, AFB by September, 1998. Ratification of Start I
    and the possible implementation of Start II, means that Minuteman III will become the only land-based ICBM in the TRIAD.
    An extensive life extension program is underway to keep the remaining missiles safe, secure and reliable well into the 21st
    Century. These major programs include: replacement of the aging guidance system, remanufacture of the solid-propellant
    rocket motors, replacement of standby power systems, repair of launch facilities, and installation of updated, survivable
    communications equipment and new command and control consoles to enhance immediate communications.
                               LGM-30G Specifications
     Primary function: Intercontinental ballistic missile
     Contractor: Boeing Co.
     Power plant: Three solid-propellant rocket motors; first stage, Thiokol; second stage, Aerojet-General; third stage, United
     Technologies Chemical Systems Division
     Thrust: First stage, 202,600 pounds (91,170 kilograms)
     Length: 59.9 feet (18 meters)
     Weight: 79,432 pounds (32,158 kilograms)
     Diameter: 5.5 feet (1.67 meters)
     Range: 6,000-plus miles (5,218 nautical miles)
     Speed: Approximately 15,000 mph (Mach 23 or 24,000 kph) at burnout
     Ceiling: 700 miles (1,120 kilometers)
     Load: Re-entry vehicle: General Electric MK 12 or MK 12A
     Guidance system: Inertial system: Autonetics Division of Rockwell International (now Boeing North American); ground
     electronic/security system: Sylvania Electronics Systems and Boeing Co.
     Warheads: Three (downloaded to one in accordance with the Washington Summit Agreement, June 1992)
     Unit cost: $7 million
     Date deployed: June 1970, production cessation: December 1978
     Inventory: Active force, 515; Reserve, 0; ANG, 0


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